Scrapping the ČT and ČRo fee: what Pirates and ODS wanted before
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The government's bill to abolish television and radio fees has passed its second reading in the Czech Chamber of Deputies. The opposition failed to get it rejected in the early hours of Saturday. After this first round, Novinky reports, the bill will go to committees. Meanwhile, some of those who criticize the plan most sharply today once backed a similar solution themselves.
What the Pirates wrote in 2017
In their program for the 2017 Chamber of Deputies election, the Pirates wrote: “We will abolish the license fees. We will replace the income of ČT and ČRo with a fixed share of VAT revenue.” They also promised to widen, but strictly regulate, advertising revenue and to limit political pressure on the management of the television and radio. Nine years ago the party pushed the idea of replacing the fees with tax money, and on Friday it sharply rejected the government's plan to move the funding of public-service media under the state budget, accusing the cabinet of trying to take control of ČT and ČRo.
The then Pirate chairman and current deputy Ivan Bartoš defended the idea back in 2017, telling the server iDNES.cz that funding should come as a share of collected taxes. He did not fear for ČT's independence because of state-budget funding: “If your question is whether this is in the hands of politicians, then it is right now as well,” he said in response to concerns about political influence. Bartoš pointed out that even then the head of ČT was negotiating with the Chamber of Deputies over higher fees.
ODS tried back in 2009
ODS went down this road even earlier. In 2009 its senators tried to push through the Senate a change in the law that would have replaced the fees with funding from the state budget. The proposal failed by a single vote. A year later the party was already more cautious: its program for the 2010 election said, “We will consider abolishing the license fees and paying for the public service directly from the state budget.”
The opposition sharply criticizes the planned change in the funding of ČT and ČRo. On Friday, demonstrators gathered in front of the Chamber of Deputies, where lawmakers were debating the bill, and stayed there overnight.
Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz
